2021 Standouts Across Texas Updates

In keeping with my philosophy on balance, it is now time to give some more props to the 2021 class again and give credit where it is due. These young ladies deserve many kudos in what they have done over the past four years. Here we will give some more information on how well they represented their high school varsity programs on the volleyball court. I’m spreading out all over Texas in these articles to makes sure all areas are covered. Check out what these ladies have accomplished.   [player_tooltip player_id="87423" first="Anna" last="Claire Nichol"] [2021] 6-0 Outside (HS: Highland Park/Club: Excel/ Signed: Wake Forest) Anna Claire is currently ranked as the 35th best prospect in the 2021 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. We wrote an article earlier in the spring and her is a little from it about her, “She is verbally committed to division one Wake Forest. She is gifted with a very great jumping ability. She has great hang-time which helps her attacking ability. This outside hitter from Highland Park High School has the ability to score at will. She brings a very nice off-speed attack game to her arsenal, but can bring heat when she needs to. And boy does she bring it. She is a high-flier who loves to take a really deep transitioned approach to fire away at her opponent. Anna Claire is a very smart attacker who scores in a variety of ways. She knows when to go high, hard, and deep or get on top and rip the three-meter line. She will do great things for Wake and we are happy to cover her for one more year in high school and club.“ She has done extremely well for her high school program over the past four years. This past season she was sidelined with a shoulder injury but that hasn’t stopped her in still being a leader for her squad. She was still able to earn 1st team all district honors. The senior captain has starred for them since she burst onto the scene as a freshman. She signed her national letter of intent to Wake Forest in November and will spend her time getting healthy to crack the lineup when she attends school in the fall.   [player_tooltip player_id="87440" first="Bryley" last="Steinhilber"] [2021] 5-10 Outside/Middle (HS: Kennedale/Club: Texas Pistols/Verbal: Abilene Christian) Bryley is currently ranked as the 52nd best prospect in the 2021 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. In a previous article we wrote the following, “Players that have the unique ability to hit different tempos in multiple locations in the same game and efficiently score for their teams are very rare. For those that know volleyball, it is very a difficult thing to do, especially against top competition. Bryley is one of those rare individuals who does this for her teams. She can run all quick tempos and hit well from the middle and then in an instant switch it up and hit a high tempo pin set for a kill. She is blessed with fast-twitch footwork which keeps her speed intact. She approaches so fast toward the ball and uses that momentum to bring some heat. She does a great job scoring toward both deep corners to keep the other team off-balance. She will do very well with Abilene Christian in a few years.” She has done wonders for her high school program. She has been an absolute stud on the court. Being able to have a four year stat sheet that has 1361 kills, a career .335 hitting percentage, 241 total blocks, 639 digs, and 208 aces shows just how strong of an overall player she truly is. She is one of the main reasons why her Kennedale squad had a 24-4 overall record in 2021. Being great on varsity in the competitive volleyball state of Texas in one year is difficult, but showing consistency of greatness over four years is almost impossible. Only the great ones can do it. She will forever be one of the great ones that Kennedale has ever seen on the volleyball court. We are excited for her future in the sport.   [player_tooltip player_id="87443" first="Bryshanna" last="Brown"] [2021] 5-8 Libero (HS: O’Connor/Club: SA Juniors/Signed: Houston) Bryshanna has made some serious moves during her senior season. She went from unranked to the 57th best prospect to now ranked as the 32nd best overall prospect in the state according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She made the move to be a libero and hasn’t looked back at all. In a previous article we highlighted her and said, “She is a very athletic and versatile player who stars in both the front row and the back row. Her back row play is infectious as she has no regard for her body and flies around to make sure that her team has a chance to win each rally. Always moving and reading her opponent is one thing that truly stands out when I watch her play. Because I love to teach defense, I smile every time I watch Bree collapse her body on a hard driven attack. She has been taught very well. She has such a great soft touch on the ball in the back row and it is very refreshing to watch her swing on an out of system ball from behind the attack line. She is verbally committed to the University of Houston and will do great things for the Cougars. We watched very closely this year as we were able to catch a few of her high school matches during her incredible senior season. Words on the page about her play do not even do her justice. She was born to play the game of volleyball. Her court vision is unmatched and she has an uncanny ability to read the offense before they contact the ball. This helps her always be able to be in a good position to play the ball, which is why she always touches everything near her zone. She plays the libero position so effortlessly and we couldn’t be more proud of her play, especially because she used to be an outside hitter. It takes most players years of constant lessons and game experience to have these types of abilities. Miss Brown is a fantastic libero and she will definitely be a great asset my Alma Mater University of Houston once she steps on their campus. Please help me congratulate her on her movement up our rankings.” We have written about her a couple of times but we can’t get enough of her at Prep Dig. She started off as a solid attacker who scored for her teams effortlessly due to her natural athleticism. She did something that almost no one can do. Most people struggle with position change later in their career, but Miss Brown not only made the change to one of the most difficult positions on the floor, she did it with flair and excelled at it. She decided to become a libero and never looked back. Just looking at her overall stats in four years on varsity at O’Connor high school shows just how special of a player she truly is. 817 kills, 26 blocks, 104 aces, and an astounding 1859 career digs is a stat line that anyone would be proud of. Bryshanna is one of the main reasons why her varsity squad had an amazing year going 23-1 overall and undefeated in district with a 16-0 record. We are proud to have her as part of our Prep Dig Family.   There are many more amazing 2021 players to be aware of. Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following Texas Family!